As winter slowly creeps across the country, it’s an ideal time to recollect on the past year’s worth of fishing adventures, as well as begin to prepare for many more in 2021. As such, this feels like a perfect time to cast out our quarterly call to action for community submitted content.
The submission deadline for the Tenkara Angler 2020-21 Winter Collection will be Friday, January 1st. The goal will be to publish articles over the first or second week of January 2021. As always, contributions can be anything tenkara, fixed-line, or conservation themed. Essays, trip reports, gear reviews, photos, original art, etc… are all fair game.
Submissions can be sent directly via email to mike@tenkaraangler.com. Or if you’d prefer, please use our simple submission form that can be used at any time, even outside of quarterly deadlines.
To perhaps promote and inspire participation, we’d like to suggest two writing prompts for our Winter collection: Memorable Moments and Fly/Kebari Tying.
Memorable Moments do not necessarily need to be those of epic trip reports or gigantic fish (although that would be great). Rather, they could be about finding temporary escape from the everyday stressors of viruses and elections. They could be a reflection of personal growth found in your fishing. Heck, they could even be something that in retrospect might seem humorous, like that time you were fighting a fish and your knot gave way, or your rod tip broke. When I started Tenkara Angler a few years ago, I had hoped stories such as these would be the backbone of each issue; special experiences that are relatable to many, yet still uniquely “tenkara.”
I trust the Fly/Kebari Tying topic is self explanatory… Let’s see what flies you’re tying (and fishing). I’ve personally got some slots that need filled in my fly boxes this winter and would welcome a little inspiration. There are many, many active tyers within the tenkara community, and it really doesn’t take a ton to make an article out of your preferred fly. (Example post in this link). A few photos and words about the tying process, a list of materials to replicate the pattern, and then it’s always helpful if you tell us how you fish it. So show us your patterns. Show us your vises and tools. And don’t leave out those feathers, threads, and hooks. We love seeing those too.
Before ending this post, I probably need to be honest with everyone. This past Fall’s call for submissions went largely unanswered. While our “Fall Festival” included seven entries, only two of them actually came through submissions. Perhaps in this age of Facebook and Instagram, this online magazine is just losing steam. Maybe those that have contributed in the past just needed a break. Or most likely, 2020 is just a bad year to get the creative juices flowing. Believe me, I get it. I’m in that same latter boat.
Either way, we’ll make this quarterly call at least one more time and see how it goes. Jason, Matt, & I would love nothing more than to have Tenkara Angler remain a “community-sourced” publication of all things timely and topical in tenkara and fixed-line fly fishing.
Do you have a story to tell? A photo to share? A fly recipe that’s too good to keep secret? If you would like to contribute content to Tenkara Angler, click HERE for more details.